Cooking device

ABSTRACT

Door packing ( 35 ) having a base ( 36 ), a first lip ( 37 ), and a second lip ( 38 ) is stretched around periphery of a back surface cover ( 31 ) of a door ( 30 ). When the door ( 30 ) is closed, the second lip ( 38 ) is inserted into a heating chamber ( 22 ), the first lip ( 37 ) pivots in directions of arrows (A) once an extremity of the first lip ( 37 ) comes into contact with a front face panel ( 40 ), and an extremity of the second lip ( 38 ) is then brought into close contact with inner wall surfaces of the heating chamber ( 22 ). Thus both the front face panel ( 40 ) and the inner wall surfaces of the heating chamber ( 22 ) are sealed, so that smoke, steam and the like produced by objects to be heated are reliably prevented from leaking out of the heating chamber ( 22 ). Besides, condensed water is prevented from accumulating in a groove formed on a border between the front face panel ( 40 ) and the first lip ( 37 ) while the front face panel ( 40 ) is sealed by the first lip ( 37 ), and thus the condensed water in the groove is prevented from falling down out of the heating chamber ( 22 ) when the door ( 30 ) is opened.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a cooking device that performs heatcooking by heat from a heat source with respect to objects to be heatedplaced in a heating chamber.

BACKGROUND ART

There has been a conventional cooking device disclosed in JP 11-83037 A(Patent Literature 1). In the cooking device disclosed in PatentLiterature 1, as shown in FIG. 6, a heater 2 is mounted in a cookingchamber 1 having an opening on a front face thereof, a handle 4 ismounted on a lower front face of a door 3 for opening and closing theopening of the cooking chamber 1, and a receiving tray 6 is connected toa rear face of the door 3 by a connection part 5. A grill 7 on whichobjects to be cooked are to be placed is placed in the receiving tray 6.That is, the door 3 is a drawer-type door to which the receiving tray 6is connected.

A pad surface 9 is formed around the opening 8 of the cooking chamber 1,and door packing 10 is provided on the pad surface 9 so as to surroundthe opening 8. The door packing 10 is composed of elastic material suchas rubber and has a thick part 11 and a thin part 12.

Bosses 13 shaped like arrowheads are provided in the thick part 11 ofthe door packing 10, so that the door packing 10 is mounted on and fixedto the pad surface 9 by insertion of the bosses 13 into holes boredthrough the pad surface 9. The thin part 12 is cantilevered by the thickpart 11 and is formed of a convex curved surface extending outward. Inthis configuration, a height of the convex curved surface from the padsurface 9 is set at a height such that an extremity of the thin part 12collides with an inside wall of the door 3 sooner than an extremity ofthe thick part 11 does when the door 3 is closed.

When objects to be cooked such as fishes are placed on the receivingtray 6 through medium of the grill 7 and are heated by energization ofthe heater 2, in an above configuration, smoke, steam and the like areproduced from the objects to be cooked. The smoke, steam and the likeare prevented from leaking out of the door 3 because the opening 8 ofthe cooking chamber 1 is covered with the door packing 10.

The conventional cooking device disclosed in Patent Literature 1,however, has problems as follows.

The objects to be cooked having comparatively little moisture, such asfishes, as described above, cause no problem because a quantity of steamproduced from the objects to be cooked is small, whereas a largequantity of steam is produced when the objects to be cooked having muchmoisture, such as vegetables, are heated. Recently, use of steam as heatsource has been increasing. In the use, a large quantity of steam issupplied in the cooking chamber 1. The steam that comes into contactwith the door 3 having a low temperature becomes condensed water bybeing condensed and, in course of time, the condensed water flowsdownward along the inside wall of the door 3.

The door packing 10 is mounted on the pad surface 9 provided around theopening 8 on the front face of the cooking chamber 1 so that the thinpart 12 formed of the convex curved surface is brought into contact withthe inside wall of the door 3. Accordingly, the thin part 12 of the doorpacking 10 that is positioned on lower side on the opening 8 of thecooking chamber 1 extends downward and outward from the thick part 11,and contact thereof with the inside wall of the door 3 forms a groove 14that is defined by the door 3 and the thin part 12 of the door packing10.

Thus a problem is caused in that the condensed water having flowed downalong the inside wall of the door 3 accumulates in the groove 14 and inthat the condensed water having accumulated in the groove 14 falls downout of the cooking chamber 1 and wets a floor surface when the opening 8is opened with the door 3 drawn out. There is another problem in that adrip pan (not shown) is required to be provided under the door packing10 positioned on the lower side, in order to prevent the floor surfacefrom being wetted.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   PATENT LITERATURE 1: JP 11-83037 A

SUMMARY CF INVENTION Technical Problem

An object of the invention is to provide a cooking device that preventscondensed water from falling down out of a heating chamber when a doorof the heating chamber is opened.

Solution to Problem

In order to solve above problems, a cooking device of the inventioncomprises:

a heating chamber which has an opening and in which objects to be heatedinserted through the opening are heated by heat from a heat source,

a door for opening and closing the opening of the heating chamber, and

door packing which is provided in a position on the door that faces anedge of the opening of the heating chamber and which seals at leastinner wall surfaces of the heating chamber.

According to an above configuration, the inner wall surfaces of theheating chamber are sealed by the door packing provided in the positionon the door that faces the edge of the opening of the heating chamber.Accordingly, condensed water produced in the heating chamber can beprevented from accumulating in a groove formed on a border between afront face panel around periphery of the opening of the heating chamberand the door packing when the opening of the heating chamber is closedby the door, so that the condensed water that might accumulate in thegroove can be prevented from falling down out of the heating chamber andwetting a floor surface when the door is opened.

In an embodiment, the door packing is provided at least in a positionbelow a horizontal plane passing through a center of the opening.

According to the embodiment, condensed water that has been produced inthe heating chamber and that has accumulated in lower side in theheating chamber can be sealed by the door packing provided at least inthe position that is below the horizontal plane passing through thecenter of the opening. Accordingly, the door packing does not have to beprovided on overall periphery of the door and thus cost reduction can beattained.

In an embodiment, the door packing includes:

a first sealing part for sealing a front face panel around periphery ofthe opening of the heating chamber in conjunction with an operation ofclosing the opening by the door, and

a second sealing part for sealing the inner wall surfaces of the heatingchamber in conjunction with an operation of sealing the periphery of theopening by the first sealing part.

According to the embodiment, the sealing operation by the second sealingpart is not started until the sealing operation by the first sealingpart is started because the periphery of the opening of the heatingchamber is sealed by the first sealing part in conjunction with theoperation of closing the opening by the door and because the inner wallsurfaces of the heating chamber are sealed by the second sealing part inconjunction with the operation of sealing the periphery of the openingby the first sealing part. Accordingly, an extremity of the secondsealing part can be prevented from being nipped between the door and theedge of the opening of the heating chamber even if a variation is causedin a mounting position of the door relative to the opening of theheating chamber.

In an embodiment, the door packing seals both the front face panelaround the periphery of the opening of the heating chamber and the innerwall surfaces of the heating chamber when the opening is completelyclosed by the door.

According to the embodiment, the door packing seals both the front facepanel around the periphery of the opening of the heating chamber and theinner wall surfaces of the heating chamber when the opening iscompletely closed by the door, and thus smoke, steam and the likeproduced from the objects to be heated or steam as the heat source canreliably be prevented from leaking out of the heating chamber when theobjects to be heated in the heating chamber is heated by heat from theheat source.

In an embodiment, a depression for accumulating condensed water producedin the heating chamber and preventing the condensed water from flowingout of the heating chamber upon opening of the door is provided on aside opposite to the opening with respect to a position of sealing bythe door packing on the bottom wall surface of the heating chamber.

According to the embodiment, the depression for accumulating thecondensed water produced in the heating chamber is provided on thebottom wall surface of the heating chamber. As a result, the condensedwater can be prevented from flowing out of the heating chamber even if asurface on which the cooking device is placed is slightly inclined so asto face the opening and/or even if a large quantity of the condensedwater has been formed.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

As apparent from the above description, according to the cooking deviceof the invention, the inner wall surfaces of the heating chamber aresealed by the door packing provided in the position on the door thatfaces the edge of the opening of the heating chamber. Accordingly,condensed water produced in the heating chamber can be prevented fromaccumulating in a groove formed on a border between a front face panelaround periphery of the opening of the heating chamber and the doorpacking when the opening of the heating chamber is closed by the door,so that the condensed water that might accumulate in the groove can beprevented from falling down out of the heating chamber and wetting afloor surface when the door is opened.

According to the invention, consequently, a drip pan does not have to beprovided under the opening of the heating chamber and thus users can bereleased from troublesomeness of washing and attachment of the drip pan.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a vertical section of vicinity of a door in a cooking deviceof the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section showing a state in which the door is closed in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a shape of a section of door packingdifferent from door packing of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a shape of a section of door packing (in astate in which an extremity part thereof is in contact with a front facepanel) different from the door packing of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3;

FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a state in which the extremity part of thedoor packing shown in FIG. 4A is in close contact with inner wallsurfaces of a heating chamber;

FIG. 5 is a section of a bottom wall surface different from a bottomwall surface of the heating chamber of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 6 is a vertical section of vicinity of a door in a conventionalcooking device.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinbelow, the invention will be described in detail with reference toembodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical section ofvicinity of a door in a cooking device of the embodiment. The cookingdevice may have a configuration that has an upper heater unit forheating objects to be heated such as pot, on top of a main body, andthat is incorporated in a cabinet of a built-in kitchen or may have aconfiguration that is used as a sole device.

In FIG. 1, a heating chamber 22 in which objects to be heated are putinside and heated by heat from a heat source (not shown) is provided ina housing (cabinet) 21 which forms a main body. Under the heatingchamber 22 is provided a pair of rail units 23 on both sides forsmoothly taking the objects to be heated in and out of the heatingchamber 22. The heat source is not especially limitative, and there maybe used a sheath heater using nichrome wires, a gas burner, asuperheated steam supplying device or the like.

The rail units 23 are composed of fixed rails 24 that are mounted on abottom surface of the housing 21 on both sides of the heating chamber 22so as to extend in front-to-back directions and movable rails 25 thatare slidably inserted into the fixed rails 24 so as to move in thefront-to-back directions. Herein, the term “front” in the “front-to-backdirections” refers to a side of the opening 26 in the heating chamber22, and the term “back” refers to a side opposite to the side of theopening 26.

Front end parts of the movable rails 25 in the pair of rail units 23 areconnected to each other by a rail connecting part 27 on front side ofthe housing 21. The rail connecting part 27 is formed by a metal platebent into shape of a square bracket and is composed of a planar doormounting member 28 in an intermediate position and rail mounting members29 that are positioned on both sides of the door mounting member 28,that extend in a direction generally perpendicular to the door mountingmember 28, and that are fixed to the movable rails 25 after beinginserted into the front end parts of the movable rails 25.

Though not described in detail, the door of drawer type to which areceiving tray is connected can be built in the embodiment also, as inthe conventional cooking device disclosed in Patent Literature 1,provided that the receiving tray is connected by a connecting part to aback surface of the door 30 detachably mounted on the door mountingmember 28 of the rail connecting part 27 or to the rail connecting part27.

The door 30 is detachably mounted on the door mounting member 28 of therail connecting part 27 as follows. That is, the door 30 is configuredso as to include a metallic back surface cover 31 having a viewingwindow (not shown) and a glass plate 32 fitted in a recess 31 a formedin a position corresponding to the viewing window on the back surfacecover 31. An engagement hole 34 into which a door engagement part 33 ofthe rail connecting part 27 is to be inserted is formed at width-wisecenter part under the recess 31 a on the back surface cover 31. The doorengagement part 33 protruding upward from width-wise center part of thedoor mounting member 28 of the rail connecting part 27 is inserted intothe engagement hole 34 on the back surface cover 31, so that the doorengagement part 33 is engaged with the engagement hole 34, and the door30 is detachably attached to the door mounting member 28 of the railconnecting part 27 by the engagement.

Around the recess 31 a of the back surface cover 31, door packing 35 isstretched along intersections with extension planes of a top wallsurface 22 a, a bottom wall surface 22 b, and both side wall surfaces(not shown in FIG. 1) of the heating chamber 22 which planes extendtoward the front side.

The door packing 35 has a configuration as follows. That is, the doorpacking 35 is composed of elastic material such as rubber and has a base36 composed of a thick part and lips 37, 38 composed of thin parts.Bosses 39 shaped like arrowheads are provided at intervals on the base36, so that the door packing 35 is mounted on and fixed to the backsurface cover 31 by insertion of the bosses 39 into holes bored throughthe back surface cover 31. The lips 37, 38 are cantilevered by the base36 and are generally composed of a first lip 37 as the first sealingpart extending outward, obliquely backward and radially toward a side ofthe front face panel 40 of the housing 21 and a second lip 38 as thesecond sealing part branching from the first lip 37 and extendingobliquely backward and radially toward the top wall surface 22 a, thebottom wall surface 22 b, and both the side wall surfaces of the heatingchamber 22.

In a state in which the door 30 is opened as shown in FIG. 1, a distancebetween an extremity of the first lip 37 of the door packing 35 mountedon top side of the door 30 and the extremity of the first lip 37 of thedoor packing 35 mounted on bottom side of the door 30 is set larger thana distance between the top wall surface 22 a and the bottom wall surface22 b of the heating chamber 22. A distance between an extremity of thesecond lip 38 of the door packing 35 mounted on the top side of the door30 and the extremity of the second lip 38 of the door packing 35 mountedon the bottom side of the door 30 is set smaller than the distancebetween the top wall surface 22 a and the bottom wall surface 22 b ofthe heating chamber 22.

In the state in which the door 30 is opened, similarly, a distancebetween the extremity of the first lip 37 of the door packing 35 mountedon both lateral sides of the door 30 is set larger than a distancebetween both the side wall surfaces of the heating chamber 22. Adistance between the extremity of the second lip 38 of the door packing35 mounted on both the lateral sides of the door 30 is set smaller thanthe distance between both the side wall surfaces of the heating chamber22.

The second lip 38 is configured so that the extremity of the second lip38 is positioned in the heating chamber 22 at a point in time when theextremity of the first lip 37 comes into contact with the front facepanel 40.

The cooking device having above configurations operates as follows. Inorder that objects to be heated may be put in the heating chamber 22,the door 30 is drawn out toward the front side so as to open the opening26 of the heating chamber 22. In this state, as shown in FIG. 1, thedoor packing 35 is spaced from the front face panel 40 of the housing 21and from inner wall surfaces composed of the top wall surface 22 a, thebottom wall surface 22 b, and both the side wall surfaces of the heatingchamber 22. Accordingly, the extremity of the first lip 37 is then in aposition in front of the front face panel 40 and the extremity of thesecond lip 38 is in a position on inner side of the inner wall surfacesof the heating chamber 22. In this state, the objects to be heated areput in the heating chamber 22, and the door 30 is pushed back toward theback side so as to close the opening 26 of the heating chamber 22, asshown in FIG. 2. In that process, the second lip 38 is inserted into theheating chamber 22, as seen from FIG. 1, because the extremity of thesecond lip 38 is in the position on the inner side of the inner wallsurfaces of the heating chamber 22. Once the extremity of the first lip37 comes into contact with the front face panel 40, the first lip 37 isbent, owing to elasticity thereof, with retreat of the door 30 andgenerally pivots in directions of arrows (A) on positions of connectionthereof to the base 36. The extremity of the second lip 38 moves towardthe inner wall surfaces of the heating chamber 22, as the first lip 37pivots, and complete closure of the door 30 as shown in FIG. 2 brings aseal surface of the first lip 37 into close contact with the front facepanel 40 of the housing 21 and brings the extremity of the second lip 38into close contact with the inner wall surfaces of the heating chamber22.

In the embodiment, in this manner, both the front face panel 40 and theinner wall surfaces of the heating chamber 22 that define periphery ofthe opening 26 of the heating chamber 22 can be sealed by the doorpacking 35 when the door 30 is pushed back toward the back side to closethe opening 26 of the heating chamber 22. When the objects to be heatedin the heating chamber 22 are heated by heat from the heat source,therefore, smoke, steam and the like produced from the objects to beheated or steam used as the heat source can reliably be prevented fromleaking out of the heating chamber 22.

Herein, the door packing 35 is composed of the thick base 36 mounted onand fixed to the back surface cover 31 of the door 30, the thin firstlip 37 cantilevered by the base 36 and extending outward and radiallytoward the side of the front face panel 40 of the housing 21, and thethin second lip 38 branching from the first lip 37 on the inner side ofthe extension planes of the inner wall surfaces of the heating chamber22 and extending toward the inner wall surfaces of the heating chamber22. Therefore, condensed water that has been made by the contact ofsteam in the heating chamber 22 with the back surface cover 31 of thedoor 30 and that has flowed down along the back surface cover 31 is madeto flow back along the first lip 37 and the second lip 38 of the doorpacking 35 onto a part of the bottom wall surface 22 b of the heatingchamber 22 that is deeper than the extremity of the second lip 38.

As a result, the condensed water can be prevented from accumulating inthe groove that is formed on a border between the front face panel 40 ofthe housing 21 and the first lip 37 when the first lip 37 of the doorpacking 35 seals the front face panel 40, so that the condensed waterthat might accumulate in the groove can be prevented from falling downout of the heating chamber 22 and wetting a floor surface when the door30 is drawn out to open the heating chamber 22.

On this occasion, the extremity of the second lip that seals the innerwall surfaces of the heating chamber 22 is required to be in contactwith the inner wall surfaces in the heating chamber 22. This requiresthat the distance between the extremities of the second lips 38 whichface each other should be smaller than the distance between the innerwall surfaces of the heating chamber 22 which face each other, when thedoor 30 is in the open state, and that the extremity of the second lip38 should be in close contact with the inner wall surfaces of theheating chamber 22, when the door 30 is in a closed state.

In order to attain that, the door packing 35 of the embodiment isconfigured so as to cause the contact of the extremity of the first lip37 with the front face panel after the insertion of the second lip 38into the heating chamber 22, the pivoting of the first lip 37 in thedirections of the arrows (A), the concomitant movement of the extremityof the second lip 38 toward the inner wall surfaces of the heatingchamber 22, and the close contact of the extremity of the second lip 38with the inner wall surfaces of the heating chamber 22 upon the completeclosure of the door 30. This has an effect of preventing the extremityof the second lip 38 from being nipped between the front face panel 40and the door 30 with the closure of the door 30 even if a variation iscaused in a mounting position of the door 30 relative to the opening 26of the heating chamber 22.

A shape of the section of the door packing 35 is not limited to a shapeshown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In brief, the shape of the section has only tobe designed so that at least the inner wall surfaces of the heatingchamber 22 can be sealed. As shown in FIG. 3, for instance, the seal ofthe inner wall surfaces of the heating chamber 22 can further bestrengthened by a second lip 41 of which extremities are to be broughtinto close contact with the inner wall surfaces of the heating chamber22 and which is composed of two lips.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, alternatively, the first lip 37 is omittedand only a second lip 42 is provided. The second lip 42 is configured soas to be cantilevered by the base 36 and so as to extend outward andradially toward the side of the front face panel 40 of the housing 21.In this configuration, a distance between extremities of the second lips42 that face each other is set larger than the distance between theinner wall surfaces of the heating chamber 22 that face each other.Accordingly, an extremity part of the second lip 42 of which theextremity has been brought into contact with the front face panel 40with closure of the door 30 as shown in FIG. 4A is curved so as toprotrude toward the back side as shown in FIG. 4B with movement of thedoor 30 and is inserted into the heating chamber 22 while being in closecontact with the inner wall surfaces of the heating chamber 22.

In this configuration, there is no groove formed on a border between thefront face panel 40 of the housing 21 and the door packing 35 becausethe door packing 35 does not seal the front face panel 40 when the door30 is closed. As a result, the condensed water is prevented fromaccumulating on the front face panel 40 and is prevented from fallingdown out of the heating chamber 22 and wetting the floor surface whenthe door 30 is drawn out so as to open the heating chamber 22.

On condition that a surface on which the cooking device is placed is nothorizontal but is slightly inclined so as to face the front side or oncondition that a large quantity of the condensed water has been formed,in the configurations, there is a fear that the condensed water havingaccumulated on the bottom wall surface 22 b of the heating chamber 22may flow out of the heating chamber 22. As shown in FIG. 5, therefore, abottom wall surface depression 43 for accumulating the condensed wateris preferably provided at a site that is slightly deeper than theextremity of the second lip 38 of the door packing 35 on the bottom wallsurface 22 b of the heating chamber 22 in the state in which the door 30is completely closed. This prevents the condensed water from flowing outof the heating chamber 22 even if the surface on which the cookingdevice is placed is slightly inclined so as to face the front side oreven if a large quantity of the condensed water has been formed. Thecondensed water accumulating in the bottom wall surface depression 43 isevaporated by a high temperature in the heating chamber 22 during heatcooking.

In the configurations, the door packing 35 is stretched around overallperiphery of the viewing window on the back surface cover 31 of the door30. The condensed water, however, is formed and accumulated on a part ofthe back surface cover 31 of the door 30 that is below the heatingchamber 22. Accordingly, the door packing 35 is not necessarily requiredto be stretched around the overall periphery of the viewing window onthe back surface cover 31 but has only to be provided at least below ahorizontal plane passing through a center of the opening 26.

In the embodiment, the door 30 is a drawer-type door with the rail units23. The invention, however, is not limited thereto but may employ ahinge-type door.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   21 housing (cabinet)-   22 heating chamber-   22 a top wall surface-   22 b bottom wall surface-   23 rail unit-   24 fixed rail-   25 movable rail-   26 opening-   27 rail connecting part-   28 door mounting member-   29 rail mounting member-   30 door-   31 back surface cover-   31 a recess-   32 glass plate-   33 door engagement part-   34 engagement hole-   35 door packing-   36 base-   37 first lip-   38, 41, 42 second lip-   39 boss-   40 front face panel-   43 bottom wall surface depression

1. A cooking device comprising: a heating chamber (22) which has anopening (26) and in which objects to be heated inserted through theopening (26) are heated by heat from a heat source, a door (30) foropening and closing the opening (26) of the heating chamber (22), anddoor packing (35) which is provided in a position on the door (30) thatfaces an edge of the opening (26) of the heating chamber (22) and whichseals at least inner wall surfaces (22 a, 22 b) of the heating chamber(22).
 2. The cooking device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the doorpacking (35) is provided at least in a position below a horizontal planepassing through a center of the opening (26).
 3. The cooking device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the door packing (35) includes: a firstsealing part (37) for sealing a front face panel (40) around peripheryof the opening (26) of the heating chamber (22) in conjunction with anoperation of closing the opening (26) by the door (30), and a secondsealing part (38, 41) for sealing the inner wall surfaces (22 a, 22 b)of the heating chamber (22) in conjunction with an operation of sealingthe periphery of the opening (26) by the first sealing part (37).
 4. Thecooking device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the door packing (35)seals both the front face panel (40) around the periphery of the opening(26) of the heating chamber (22) and the inner wall surfaces (22 a, 22b) of the heating chamber (22) when the opening (26) is completelyclosed by the door (30).
 5. The cooking device as claimed in claim 1,wherein a depression (43) for accumulating condensed water produced inthe heating chamber (22) and preventing the condensed water from flowingout of the heating chamber (22) upon opening of the door (30) isprovided on a side opposite to the opening (26) with respect to aposition of sealing by the door packing (35) on the bottom wall surface(22 b) of the heating chamber (22).